System and apparatus for handling green leaf tobacco at the warehouse level

ABSTRACT

A system and apparatus for use in baling sheets of tobacco at a warehouse so that the tobacco can be handled and transported more easily, including a lift and transfer vehicle and a compactor. The lift and transfer vehicle is used to stack a plurality of sheets of tobacco into the compactor so that the stack can be compressed. A set of cross straps are used to secure the compressed stack together to form a bale. The lift and transfer vehicle removes the bale from the compactor and loads it on another vehicle which will transport the bales to other tobacco processing facilities.

United States Patent 1191 1111 3,828,662 Pinkham Aug. 13, 1974 [54] SYSTEM AND APPARATUS FOR 3,228,166 l/l966 Thiele 100/3 X HANDLING GREEN LEAF TOBACCO AT 2 3/1966 g/eneman..." 214/512 3,339,965 /l967 erns 294/74 THE WAREHOUSE LEVEL 3,459,119 8/1969 Wiklund 100/7 [75] Inventor: Jesse R. Pinkham, Winston-Salem, 3,701,559 10/ 1972 Marino et a]. 294/74 N.C. [73] Assignee: R. J. Reynolds Tobacco Company, Primary ExammerBlny wllh'te Winston-Salem, NC,

221 Filed: Nov. 6, 1972 211 App]. No.: 304,284

521 US. Cl 100/7','100/8,100/1o0, 100/215, l00/2l8, 214/512 511 mu ..B65b13/20 5s FieldofSearch 24/16; 100/3, 7, s, 100,

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,357,182 8/1944 Farmer 294/74 2,570,757 lO/l95l Bowmanetal. 3,196,778 7/1965 Edridge 100/3 Attorney, Agent, or FirmGrover M. Myers; Manford R. Haxton [5 7] ABSTRACT and loads it on another vehicle which will transport the bales to other tobacco processing facilities.

2 Clains, 31 Drawing Figures lQ7654-Jll sum 13 or 11 PATENIEBmm 3mm SHHII 0 4 (If 11 PAnimwwmw f 3.828.662

sum as at 11 PAIENIEB Min 1 31914 sum nanny FIG. l5

PAIENIED mm 31914 sum 110r SYSTEM AND APPARATUS FOR HANDLING GREEN LEAF TOBACCO AT THE WAREHOUSE LEVEL BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION This invention relates to a system and apparatus for use in baling sheets of tobacco at a marketlocation so that the tobacco can be more easily transported to other facilities and, in particular, the invention defines various pieces of equipment for handling sheets of green leaf tobacco at the market warehouse, and compressing a plurality of sheets of tobacco into compact bales, loading the bales onto a variety of vehicles, and transporting the bales to either prize houses or stemming facilities.

Presently, the tobacco industry is still utilizing techniques and equipment developed to years ago for collecting and transporting tobacco from the warehouses in a market area to other facilities for further processing. These presently used techniques have become less economical and inefficient, primarily because of the increased labor cost as well as the decrease in the labor pool for these seasonal type jobs. It has been these two factors that have spurred the tobacco industrys efforts to mechanize the green leaf tobacco handling process at the warehouse level.

A typical warehouse is usually separated into two sections with a loading and unloading drivethrough between the two sections. Each section is used to accommodate tobacco for a single sale or auction. The reason for the two sections is that while one sale is being conducted on one section, the other section of the warehouse can be set up for another sale. After each sale, the buyers of the tobacco are expected to remove the tobacco which they have bought from the'warehouse floor as quickly as possible so another sale can be set up. Typically, an independent contractor, who is hired by all the buyers, clears the floor and collects each buyers tobacco and carries it to a designated location adjacent to the warehouse drivethrough or docking facility. This collection is usually done by a crew of workers who tie the four corners of the sheet together, then place two of the sheets on a dolly or jack, as it is commonly called in the industry and move the jack with the sheets of tobacco thereon to thedesignated collection points. Each of the buyers will have trucks parked along the drivethrough or dock waiting to receive the tobacco and transport it to the other facilities. The drivethrough has always been a bottleneck, primarily because there is never enough room in the drivethrough for all the trucks that are required. Consequently, some of the trucks have to wait in line for their turn, causing a great amount of wasted time. When loading the trucks, each of the sheets is loaded by hand separately; and a crew of from six to eight workers is required.

Each of the market areas have differing physical facilities, and thus no single technique for handling the tobacco can be used in every market. The two mostdiffering situations occur, however, because some market areas have prize houses for packing the tobacco into hogsheads while others do not. If there is a prize house (collection point for a number of warehouses in a market), the tobacco is taken from the warehouse to the prize house where it is packed into hogsheads and then loaded onto boxcars or semi-trailers, depending on the loading facilities at the particular prize house, and

shipped to stemming plants usually located hundreds of miles from the market area. Conversely, if there are no prize houses in the vicinity of the market, the sheets of tobacco are handloaded onto semi-trailer trucks or boxcars, again depending on the loading and docking facilities at the warehouse, and shipped directly to the stemming plants. in one market area, in particular, there are almost no warehouses; and thus, all of the tobacco bought in this market has to be loaded in loose sheets by hand and shipped directly to the stemming plants.

At the present time, a semi-trailer truck or railway boxcar, when loaded by hand at a market, can carry approximately 27,000 pounds of tobacco in loose sheets. It has been found that during the trip to the stemming plant the tobacco will settle. This settling phenomenon is of some advantage when using a semi-trailer truck because more payload can be placed on the semi-trailer initially, and the payload will settle to the proper road height requirement during the trip. The settling phenomenon works to the disadvantage of the buyers when boxcars are used because the boxcars arrive at the stemming plant approximately half full. The sheets also become intermingled and disoriented during the trip so that the job of unloading the boxcar at the stemming plants becomes significantly more time-consuming.

Many efforts have been made by the industry to develop systems for handling the tobacco at the warehouse level which will permit a greater truck and boxcar payload and will reduce the time required to load and unload. None of those efforts have met with much success. Notwithstanding these previous failures, a continuous parade of new systems are experimented with each year. The method and apparatus of the present invention has been found to be an exceptionally simple system to utilize and has greatly increased the payload of a boxcar, and with the proper loading pattern can maintain or slightly increase the payload of a semitrailer. The payload of a flat loaded semi-trailer can be maintained at approximately 40,000 pounds while a boxcar payload has been increased to between 51,000 and 55,000 pounds. The labor saved by utilizing the system of the present invention to load and unload has been estimated to be eight to 10 men. Therefore, it can easily be seen that the present inventionwould greatly reduce the cost of transporting tobacco from the market to the stemming facilities.

The time-consuming job of handloading the sheets on the trucks, the dead time of the trucks due to waiting in line to pick up a load, and the limited payload which can be placed on a truck are not diminished in market areas where there are prize houses. Besides these factors, another one which tends to increase the cost of handling tobacco in such a market is the road time of the trucks between the warehouse and the prize house.

Since prize house facilities and equipment are used for only a few weeks of the year, there will probably be only one prize house built in a market area which may include warehouses in a 25 to 30 mile radius. In this 25 to 30 mile radius, there may be upwards of 20 warehouses ranging in distance from the prize house from 2 to 30 miles. As can be seen, with these varying distances, a single method of transporting tobacco from the warehouse to the prize house may not be as efficient for each situation. Accordingly, in an area where the distance between the warehouse and the prize house is quite long, it is more advantageous to increase the payload of the truck since the road time of the truck will be greater. An increased payload will normally increase the loading time. Therefore, any new system used will need to greatly increase the payload if it is to be beneficial. If the distance between the warehouse and the prize house is short, it is more advantageous to reduce the payload of the truck in order to reduce the loading time, primarily because the travel time to the warehouse is reduced to a minimum.

Presently, with the handloading systems, a 2 to 5 ton flatbed truck is used to transfer the tobacco from the warehouse to the prize house. One of these trucks usually carries a maximum capacity of approximately 3,000 pounds of the loose sheets. There have been some innovations in recent years by utilizing boxes with runners which slide into the bed of a truck; however, even with these boxes, the payload of the transfer truck has only been doubled to about 6,000 pounds. The boxes produce other problems, however, in that they are very bulky and thus are not easy to handle; plus, the boxes have to be maintained. With the system of the present invention, the payload for these transfer trucks can be increased to. approximately four times that of the loose-sheet handloaded system, or about 12,000 pounds per vehicle. By increasing the payload of the transfer truck so substantially, a great number of benefits occur. For example, fewer prize houses have to be maintained, the number of trucks required to transfer tobacco can be reduced, etc. Besides the reduction in the physical facilities and the equipment, the labor saved by the system of the present invention has been estimated to be a total of seven men, which includes a reduction of the warehouse loading crew from eight to three men and a reduction of the prize house unloading crew from six to four men.

In the past, some attempts have been made to de velop apparatus and method to increase the payload of the various vehicles which are used to transport the tobacco from thewarehouse market to the stemming plants, and to reduce the time required for loading and unloading. It is believed that the basic reason for failure of all these attempts is due to the non-uniformity of the facilities and conditions at the various market warehouses. For example, some warehouses have concrete floor structures, while other warehouses have wooden floors. The wooden foor eliminates the use of the mobile lift-type vehicle, such as a forklift, which can be used to move the sheets of tobacco to the buyers collection point and to help aid in lifting the sheets onto the trucks and boxcars. Also, spur tracks are adjacent to some warehouses so that the tobacco can be loaded directly into the boxcars, while in some market areas the rail facilities are located several miles from the warehouses. As can be seen, each of these conditions, as well as others, has an effect on what type of equipment can be used and what system would be most adequate for the particular location. The system and apparatus of the present invention is designed to be flexible so that all market conditions can be accommodated.

Although the present system was developed primarily to relieve the above-mentioned problems, there is a possibility that the system can be used to completely eliminate the requirement for prize houses and thereby eliminate the transfer of the tobacco from the sheets to the hogsheads. If this were to occur, the tobacco would be shipped directly from the warehouse to the stemming plant facilities.

Already, some attempts have been made to eliminate the transfer of tobacco from the sheets to the hogsheads. Most of these efforts have been directed to developing various types of containers to replace the hogsheads. The reasons generally given for replacing the hogsheads are the cost of maintaining the hogsheads in good repair and the fact that the rigid cylindrical shape of the hogshead regulates the amount of payload which can be carried in a boxcar and semi-trailer. Various types of cardboard containers have been tried. When utilizing such containers, several sheets of tobacco are placed in them, and the tobacco is compacted so that a lid of some type can be secured on the container. All these attempts have met with little success, primarily because these cardboard containers are generally too flimsy to stand up to rough handling over a long period of time. This means that the cardboard containers can be used only once, and it is very expensive to replace the containers each year. Furthermore, the cardboard containers sometimes become torn during handling and this produces a spillage problem. Therefore, if the hogshead is to be effectively replaced, a reusable device which would have minimal repair or replacement cost is needed.

Another factor which should be taken into consideration in the replacement of the hogshead is the payload requirement of the boxcar and the semi-trailer. As mentioned above, the hogshead is a rigid cylindrical container. It is made of plywood and has a capacity to carry approximately 1,000 pounds of tobacco. With the present loading patterns, it has been found that 40 hogsheads can be loaded into a 50 foot boxcar at a gross weight of around 45,000 pounds. The net weight of the tobacco, however, is about 40,000 pounds, since 5,000 pounds of the gross weight is due to the hogsheads themselves. By using the system of the present invention, between 51,000 and 55,000 pounds of tobacco can be loaded into a single 50 foot boxcar as was mentioned above. Only 500 pounds of this weight is attributable to the weight of the sheets and the baling device of the present invention. Thus, an increase of between l-0,000 and 15,000 pounds of tobacco can be carried in a single 50 foot boxcar by utilizing the present invention as opposed to using hogsheads. The present invention can thus be used to replace the hogsheads and will increase the net weight of tobacco which can be carried if proper loading patterns are utilized.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is, therefore, an object of this invention to provide an apparatus whereby loose sheets of tobacco can be baled for easy handling and transporting by conventional means from the warehouse facilities to other processing facilities.

Another object of this invention is to provide a package or bale which can be utilized in the same manner as a hogshead for transporting green leaf tobacco from the market warehouse directly to the stemming plants.

Another object of this invention is to provide an apparatus for compacting a plurality of sheets of green leaf tobacco into a bundle which is secured together by a set of cross straps, thereby forming a package which can be easily loaded and unloaded into such conventional vehicles as boxcars, semi-trailer trucks, flatbed trucks, etc.

Still another object of this invention is to provide a small, compact bundle which will increase the payload of the vehicles used in transporting tobacco from the warehouse to the prize houses and stemming facilities.

Still another object of this invention is to provide an easy and efficient system which can be utilized in varying market situations having different physical facilities.

Still another object of this invention is to provide a mobile vehicle which can be used for a variety of functions, such as clearing a warehouse floor, compacting a plurality of sheets, and loading compacted bales of sheets into a semi-trailer truck or boxcar.

These and other objects are accomplished by the present invention through the use of a portable hydraulic press into which a plurality of loose sheets of tobacco can be stacked for compaction. The press basically has a semi-circular body which permits the sheets to be inserted through one side by a mobile vehicle, such as a forklift truck or a skid loader having a highfriction conveyor belt secured to its front end. The lower end of the press is a circular platform which carries a cross strap formed by two elongated webs secured together at their centers. Two ends of the cross strap have tightener type buckles affixed thereto. The movable portion of the press includes a circular pressure plate which is mounted to reciprocate vertically on a pair of hydraulic cylinder pistons. When moving downwardly, the pressure plate engages the top of the stack of sheets to compress the sheets into a compact configuration. The pressure plate carries a second cross strap which has the same configuration as the first cross strap. After a stack of sheets has been compacted, two bare ends of the second cross strap are inserted through the buckles on the corresponding end of the first cross strap, and vice versa. Thus, the stack will be securely held together,thereby forming a bale or package.

The bale is then removed from the press by a mobile vehicle, such as a forklift or skid loader, as mentioned above, and it is loaded into a boxcar or on a semi-trailer truck for shipment to the stemming plant or to the prize house.

Normally, in the present system, a forklift truck can be used when the tobacco sheets are placed on jacks by a contractor since it is easy to transfer the sheets from the jacks to the forks. Either a skid-type loader with the bucket removed or a forklift truck with the fork removed and replaced by the high-friction conveyor belt is normally used when the sheets are resting on the warehouse fioor. This skid-type loader can also be utilized most effectively when loading a semi-trailer truck where the bales have to be lifted over the sides of the truck.

The method of handling the green leaf tobacco at the warehouse level includes the steps of collecting the sheets of tobacco purchased at the sale at a designated portion of the sale facility, transferring the sheets from this designated portion of the facility into a compacting device by the use of a mobile lift-type vehicle, compressing a plurality of sheets into a compact configuration, securing the compacted sheets by a set of cross straps thereby forming a bale, removing the bale from the press and loading the bale to a suitable vehicle for transport to further processing equipment by the use of the mobile lift-type vehicle.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a plan view of a typical tobacco warehouse which shows the various types of dock and loading facilities which are in existence;

FIG. 2 is a detailed perspective of one section of a typical warehouse showing the section markings and a plurality of sheets of tobacco;

FIG. 3 is a perspective of one type of lift and transfer vehicle used in the present invention;

FIG. 4 is a perspective of a modified lift and transfer vehicle used in the present invention;

FIG. 5 is a perspective of a compactor used in the present invention;

FIG. 6 is an elevation view of the compactor of the present invention depicted in a travel position and being pulled by a lift and transfer vehicle;

FIG. 7 is a detailed perspective of the cross strap de vice according to the present invention;

FIG. 8 is a perspective of a warehouse floor in the process of being cleared;

FIGS. 8A and-8B are elevation views of two pieces of existing equipment which are used in clearing a warehouse floor;

FIG. 9 is a perspective of the compactor of the present invention after being set up to receive a plurality of sheets of tobacco;

FIGS. 10 through 20 are elevation views and perspectives of the compactor and lift and transfer vehicle, sequentially illustrating the loading, compacting, bale forming, unloading, and transfer procedures according to the present invention;

FIGS. 21 and 21A are a plan view and elevation view of a railway boxcar being loaded with bales formed by the method of the present invention;

FIGS. 22 and 22A are a plan view and elevation view of a semi-trailer truck being loaded with bales formed by the method of the present invention;

FIGS. 23, 24 and 25 are perspectives of the compactor of the present invention showing a modified set-up of the compactor prior to receiving any tobacco sheets;

FIG. 26 is an elevation view of the compactor and lift and transfer vehicle showing the removal of a bale from the compactor while the bale is in the upright position; and

FIG. 27 is an elevation view of a truck used to transport bales formed by the compactor of the present invention from a warehouse to a prize house.

DESCRIPTION OF A PREFERRED EMBODIMENT Referring more particularly to the drawings, in FIG. 1, the numeral 10 indicates a typical warehouse having two sales sections 12 and 14 separated by a drivethrough 16. The floor in each section is market off in squares which are numbered (see FIG. 2) so that the sellers and buyers can identify each sheet of tobacco Section 12, as illustrated in FIG. 1, is set up for a sale, having a sheet of tobacco on each square within the section, while section 14 is shown after the warehouse floor has been cleared. Although most warehouses have only one type of loading facility, FIG. 1 illustrates a boxcar docking facility 18 and a truck docking facility 20 on opposite sides of the warehouse so that the flexibility of the present invention can be more easily understood and shown. Another method of utilizing the present system is shown in FIG. 1 by the truck loading operation illustrated in the drivethrough at 22.

In order for the system to be explained more easily, it will first be necessary to describe the various pieces of equipment used in the system. In FIGS. 3 and 4, lift and transfer mechanisms or vehicles 24 and 25, which are utilized in the system, are illustrated. The lift and transfer vehicle 24 is a commercially available forklift truck, while the lift and transfer vehicle 25 is a similar commercially available forklift truck which has been modified. The lift and transfer vehicle 25 has a forklift chassis 26 and lift mechanism 28. The forks have been removed, however, and replaced by a powered belt conveyor 30. The belt conveyor is about 30 inches in width and is between 4 and feet in length. The belt 32 of the conveyor is made of a material with a high friction surface and surrounds forward and rear rollers 34 and 36, respectively. These rollers are hydraulically powered and will run. in either a forward or backward direction, thus the belt will run forwards and backwards. The type of docking and loading facilities at a particular warehouse will determine which type of lift and transfer vehicle will be used .in the system.

Another piece of equipment which is utilized in the system is a press or compactor 38 illustrated in FIG. 5. The compactor 38 includes a transport frame 40 having a pair of ground wheels 42 which are adpated to be pivoted upwardly so that the compactor can'rest on the frame 40 when the compactor is in use or pivot downwardly so that the compactor can be converted to a traveling position, as shown in FIG. 6. A hitch tongue 44 is secured to the forward end of the frame 40 to permit the compactor to be pulled like a trailer when the ground wheels 42 are in the travel position. The lift and transfer vehicle is normally used to pull the compactor to the different warehouses, but any type of vehicle can be used.

A generally semi-circular cylindrical portion or shell 46 is secured to the rear end of frame 40 with its opening facing rearwardly. The rear edges 48 and 49 of the shell flare outwardly to permit the compactor to be loaded more easily and make it convenient to .place odd-shaped sheets within the cylindrical portion. A bottom plate 50, forming the lower end of the press, is pivotally secured to the frame 40 along the rear edge 51 and can be tilted by suitable means such as a hydraulic cylinder (not shown). The reason for tilting the bottom plate will become obvious in the description of the operation of the system hereinafter.

A pair of hydraulic cylinders 52 are located on opposite sides of the cylindrical shell 46 and are so positioned that their piston rods 54 reciprocate vertically. A cross member 56 is secured to the upper ends of the piston rods 54. The cross member 56 will reciprocate upwardly and downwardly in vertical slots 58 formed in the wall of the cylindrical shell 46. A second pair of vertical slots 59 are located in the wall of the shell. The slots are provided to permit access into the shell from the front. A pressure plate or head 60 is secured to the cross member 56 and depends therefrom.

The hydraulic cylinders on the compactor may be reciprocated by any suitable control system (not shown). In the preferred embodiment, the power for operating the central system is supplied by an internal combustion engine 61 carried on the frame 40. The use of the internal combustion engine permits the compactor to operate autonomously from any other piece of equipment. The use and operation of the compactor will be described hereinafter in the description of the system.

A second piece of equipment which is utilized throughout the system is a securing strap 62, shown in FIG. 7. A set 63 of two securing straps 62 is used to bind together a plurality of sheets of tobacco which have been stacked or piled in the compactor, thereby forming a package or bale. Each securing strap 62 includes two elongated webs 64 and 66 which are secured together at their centers 68 forming an X or cross strap configuration. The embodiment of the strap illustrated in FIG. 7 includes tightener-type buckles 70 and 72 affixed to adjacent ends of the elongated webs 64 and 66, respectively. The opposite ends 74 and 76, respectively, of each of the webs have no buckle. This configuration of the securing strap 62 permits each strap in a set to be identical; therefore, only one embodiment of the strap'has to be manufactured.

Various modifications can be made to the securing strap which will permit easier application of a set of straps to the stacked sheets. For example, instead of utilizing the tightener-type buckles, one end of two of the webs of a single securing strap can have a simple adjustable buckle which can be positioned along the web of the strap while the other end of the strap webs are equipped with a hook and retainer arrangement (not shown). When using a set of this type of straps, a procedure for applying the set to a pile would be to adjust the buckles to the proper positions and apply the corresponding hooks of the other straps to the buckles, or the converse procedure can be used. A loop 78 can be provided at the intersection of the strap webs and can be utilized to move or pick up the bale of sheets after the strap set has been applied. The strap webbing can be made of nylon and is similar to the automobile safety belt; however, any other suitable material can be used.

Turning now to a description of the method or system for handling the tobacco at the warehouse level in which the above-identified pieces of equipment are utilized. As mentioned above, after a sale, the sheets of tobacco are cleared from the warehouse floor as shown in FIG. 1 at section 14. A contractor is engaged to clear the warehouse floor, and the first step in clearing the floor is to tie the four corners of the sheet together to form a bundle (see FIG. 2). After the sheets have been tied, a crew moves each buyers bundle to a designated location 80, 82 and 84, as shown in FIG. l,'usually adjacent to the dock and loading facilities. The transfer of the sheets is usually accomplished by a jack 86 or a duckbill cart 88 illustrated in FIGS. 8, 8A and 8B. As can be seen in FIGS. 8, 8A and 8B, when utilizing a duckbill cart 88, a single bundle is picked up off of the floor and transferred to the desired location. If a jack is used, two bundles are placed on the jack which is then rolled over to the desired collection point.

In order to more clearly point out the flexibility of the present system, several techniques for loading the tobacco on a boxcar and semi-trailer truck for transport to a stemming facility and a technique of loading smaller trucks for transport of the tobacco from the warehouse to a prize house will be described. In FIG. 1 at collection point 80, which is located adjacent to a boxcar docking facility, a compactor 38 and a lift and transfer vehicle 25 are utilized. The compactor 38 is set up as illustrated in FIG. 9. A single cross strap 62a is placed on the bottom plate 50 of the compactor 38. Two ends of the strap extend through slots 59 which are located in the'rear of the shell portion 46 of the compactor. The second securing strap 62b is secured to the pressure plate or head 60 by clamps 94 which are attached to the top surface of the pressure plate. After the compactor has been set up, as shown in FIG. 9, the lift and transfer vehicle 25 is used to transport one or more sheets of tobacco to the compactor 38, as shown in FIG 10. It has been found that for best results, transporting two sheets at one time is preferable. The sheets are placed in the compactor and then two more sheets are transported to and placed in on top of the two lower sheets in the compactor, as seen in FIGS. 11 and 12. When four sheets have been placed in the compactor, the pressure plate 60 is reciprocated downwardly, as can be seenin FIG. 13, so that the tobacco is compacted. The pressure plate is thenreciprocated upwardly, as seen in FIG. 14, and two more sheets are placed in the compactor on top of the four compacted sheets. The pressure plate 60 is again reciprocated downwardly (see FIG. 15), compacting the sheets. It has been found that between six'and nine bundles can be placed in the compactor, and this number will depend upon the size of each bundle.

With the pressure plate maintaining pressure on the stack of sheets, the ends of the upper straps 62b are released from the clamps 94 on the pressure plate, as can be seen in FIG. 16. The ends of the bottom straps 62a are then raised so that the ends of the upper straps 62b, which have no buckles, can be threaded through the tightener buckles on the bottom strap 62a. The ends of the bottom straps 62a, which have no buckles, are threaded through the tightener buckles on the upper strap 62b through the rear slots 59 in the shell 46 (see FIGS. 17 and 18). Upon securing the set of straps, a compact bale or package 96 is formed. The pressure plate 60 is then reciprocated upwardly so that a bale 96 can be removed from the compactor.

There are two methods of removing the bale from the compactor. One method is illustrated in FIG 19 and is normally utilized when the bales are being loaded into a boxcar or semi-trailer truck. In this method, the bale 96 is tipped onto its side by tilting the lower plate 50 in the compactor. Other suitable means, such as a lever located in the back of the shell 46, can be used to overturn the bale. As the bale is lying on its side, it is picked up by the lift and transfer vehicle 25, as can be seen in FIG. 20, and transported from the warehouse to a boxcar 97, as can be seen in FIG. 21. The loading pattern of a boxcar 97 is generally two bales transversely positioned across the width of the boxcar and approximately three bales in height (see FIGS. 21 and 21A). Since the sheets are more flexible than the rigid hogsheads, they may be wedged into places where a hogshead cannot be placed. Thus, by using the bales 96, more tobacco can be loaded into the boxcar than can be loaded when hogsheads are used.

If the tobacco is to be loaded into a semi-trailer truck, the truck 98 (see FIGS. 1 and 22) can be positioned with the side of the truck adjacent to warehouse dock and loading facility, as shown in FIG. 1, or the truck can be backed up to the warehouse with its rear end adjacent to the dock facility, as shown in FIG. 22. Although a lift and transfer vehicle 24 which has the fork attached to the lifting mechanism is shown in FIG. 22 as being utilized to load the truck, it should be understood that the lift and transfer vehicle 25 having the belt conveyor can also be utilized when loading a semitrailer truck. Normally, however, the lift and transfer vehicle 24 is utilized since it is usually desirable to stand the bales on end, as shown in FIGS. 22 and 22A. If the trucks are to be loaded with the bales standing on their ends, the forklift 24 is used to remove the bale 96 from the compactor 38 by inserting one of the fingers of the fork through the loop 78 on the upper strap 62b. Once the bale 96 is sitting on its end on the warehouse floor, the lift and transfer vehicle'24 can get its forks under the bundle, thereby lifting it to transport it into the semi-trailer trucks.

Turning now to a description of the method wherein the systems handling equipment is utilized to transport the tobacco from the warehouse to a prize house. The equipment used for this operation is illustrated at 82, in FIG. 1. In setting up the compactor 38 for this operation, two blocks 100 (see FIG. 23) are placed on the bottom plate 50 of the compactor. A strap 62a is laid across the blocks in a similar fashion as described hereinabove with respect to the otherbaling procedures. An upper securing strap 62b is secured to the pressure plate 60 by clamps 94 as can be seen in FIG. 24. A jack or dolly 102 is placed on the blocks 100. The purpose of the blocks 100 is to prevent the jack from rolling out of the compactor when the sheets are placed on the jack. As will be noted in FIG. 25, the securing strap 62a is located underneath the jack 102. The purpose of this is to permit the jack to be strapped to the bale. After the compactor has been set up, the baling procedure is similar to that described hereinabove the tobacco is picked up by lift and transfer vehicle 24, two bundles at a time, and transported to the compactor 38 where it is placed in the compactor, as shown in FIGS. 10 through 12. The compactor is then reciprocated down, as shown in FIG. 13, to compact the tobacco. The pressure foot is reciprocated upwardly and two more sheets of tobacco are placed in the compactor by the lift and transfer mechanism 24, as can be seen in FIG. 14. The pressure foot is then reciprocated downwardly as seen in FIG. 15 and the securing straps 62a and 62b are secured together, as shown in FIGS. 16, 17 and 18. After the bale has been strapped together, the lift and transfer mechanism vehicle 24, having the forks on the lifting mechanism, is inserted under the jack and the bale 104 is removed from the compactor (see FIG. 26). The bale 104 is transported from the compactor 38 and placed on the bed of a transfer truck 106, as can be seen in FIG. 27.

Although the two types of lift and transfer vehicles 24 and 25 have been described with a particular type of docking facility and the transporting vehicle to be loaded, it should be understood that either type of vehicle can be used and the type used will normally depend on which vehicle is the most convenient for the particular job and physical facilities. It can be seen that the above-described invention will provide a method and equipment whereby loose sheets of tobacco can be baled for easy handling and transporting by conventional means from the warehouse facilities to other processing facilities. The present system also provides a package or bale which can be utilized in the same manner as a hogshead for transporting green leaf tobacco from the market warehouse directly to the stemming plant. The package or bale of the present system also utilizes a set of cross straps which are easy to manipulate and secure a plurality of sheets of tobacco together. The system also provides a tremendous increase in payload for the various types of transporting vehicles while also reducing the time requirements for loading and unloading. The system is flexible in that it can be used at any type facility.

There are many variations and changes which can be made to the various pieces of equipment in the system. For example, the straps can be modified to provide other means for fastening the straps together or the power for the compactor mechanism can be converted to electrical power. Such variations and changes of the system, however, will not detract from the distinct advantages over the prior types of handling and transporting equipment. These variations and changes described above can be made in the present invention as hereinabove described and illustrated without departing from the true spirit and scope thereof as described in the following claims.

I claim:

1. An apparatus for handling and bundling sheets of tobacco at a market warehouse comprising:

a. compactor means for receiving a plurality of sheets of tobacco stacked on one another and compressing said stack of sheets of tobacco into a compact posture, said compactor means including:

i. a bottom platform for receiving and supporting said stacked sheets of tobacco;

ii. a generally-vertical semi-circular shell for maintaining said stack of sheets of tobacco in an upright position;

iii. a pressure plate mounted for reciprocation above said bottom platform for engaging the top of said stack of sheets of tobacco and compressing said stack into a compact bundle; and

iv. means for reciprocating said pressure plate,

b. reusable securing means for use on'said compacted bundle to form a unitary bale, said securing means including:

i. firstand second strap means, each having at least two elongated webs secured together at approximately their mid-points, said first strap means being applied to the upper portion of the compacted bundle with the ends of said first strap.

hanging downwardly and said second strap being applied to the lower portion of said compacted bundle with the ends of said second strap extending upwardly to meet the ends of said first strap; and

ii. releasable strap fastener means carried on the ends of said first and second straps for permitting the ends of said first straps to be secured to and released from the ends of said second strap, and

secured to said bale. 

1. An apparatus for handling and bundling sheets of tobacco at a market warehouse comprising: a. compactor means for receiving a plurality of sheets of tobacco stacked on one another and compressing said stack of sheets of tobacco into a compact posture, said compactor means including: i. a bottom platform for receiving and supporting said stacked sheets of tobacco; ii. a generally vertical semi-circular shell for maintaining said stack of sheets of tobacco in an upright position; iii. a pressure plate mounted for reciprocation above said bottom platform for engaging the top of said stack of sheets of tobacco and compressing said stack into a compact bundle; and iv. means for reciprocating said pressure plate, b. reusable securing means for use on said compacted bundle to form a unitary bale, said securing means including: i. first and second strap means, each having at least two elongated webs secured together at approximately their midpoints, said first strap means being applied to the upper portion of the compacted bundle with the ends of said first strap hanging downwardly and said second strap being applied to the lower portion of said compacted bundle with the ends of said second strap extending upwardly to meet the ends of said first strap; and ii. releasable strap fastener means carried on the ends of said first and second straps for permitting the ends of said first straps to be secured to and released from the ends of said second strap, and c. lift and transfer means for picking up sheets of tobacco and stacking them in said compactor and removing said unitary bale from said compactor after said securing means has been applied.
 2. The apparatus of claim 1, further including a dolly for receiving and transporting said stack of sheets of tobacco, said dolly being positioned on said bottom platform of said compactor subsequent to said second strap and prior to said stack of sheets so that when said first and second straps are fastened together, said dolly is secured to said bale. 